Introduction

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destennew

Hatching
Sep 9, 2015
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Hi everyone. My family & I own 2 Rhode Island Red hens & a rooster. I'm not sure about his breed though, and we also have two 2 1/2 week old chicks.
 
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If you only have two hens your rooster is going to badly overbreed them. A rooster can handle ten hens- less than that and they get damaged by so much attention. Also if a roo has a favorite or two (usually ones that can't get away from him) he may just continue to overbreed them and ignore others.
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. X2 on drumstick diva; as they mature and their hormones kick in, too many roosters (or too few hens in your case) will become very hard physically on your hens; over-breeding them, biting and plucking the feathers from their necks and backs, battering them, and potentially, seriously injuring them. The only reason you really need a rooster is to fertilize eggs for hatching and one rooster can easily handle 10-15 hens in this regard. If you intend to keep the rooster, I would strongly advise you to get 7 or 8 more hens to go with that rooster. If you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is loads of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
 
drumstick diva said:
If you only have two hens your rooster is going to badly overbreed them.  A rooster can handle ten hens- less than that and they get damaged by so much  attention. Also if a roo has a favorite or two (usually ones that can't get away from him)  he may just continue to overbreed them and ignore others.
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Michael OShay said:
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. X2 on drumstick diva; as they mature and their hormones kick in, too many roosters (or too few hens in your case) will become very hard physically on your hens; over-breeding them, biting and plucking the feathers from their necks and backs, battering them, and potentially, seriously injuring them. The only reason you really need a rooster is to fertilize eggs for hatching and one rooster can easily handle 10-15 hens in this regard. If you intend to keep the rooster, I would strongly advise you to get 7 or 8 more hens to go with that rooster. If you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is loads of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
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We've had these 3 together by themselves for probably about 5 months now and haven't noticed or seen him hurting them or any of that. Thanks though.
 

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